High NZ costs challenging cruise lines

New Zealand’s fuel and port costs are
among the highest in the world, according to international
cruise line representatives.

Even though cruise passengers
regularly rate their experience of New Zealand highly, the
high costs of operating here are a challenge for cruise
lines, delegates at Cruise New Zealand’s recent annual
conference in Napier heard.

“More than ever, established
products and ports are competing globally. Auckland is
competing with Port Canaveral and Barcelona. Napier is
competing with Cozumel, Palma and Ushuaia,” Royal
Caribbean Cruises Associate Vice President – Deployment &
Itinerary Planning Christopher Allen said.

Combined with
the trend of increasingly bigger ships, there are
significant implications for New Zealand as a cruise
destination.

New Zealand must be prepared to host the next
generation of cruise ships in order to remain competitive,
Mr Allen said.

However, Royal Caribbean Cruises was
expecting a record number of New Zealand port visits and
passenger numbers for the 2015-16 cruise season, up 600%
from the 2010-11 season.

Crystal Cruises Vice President
– Land Programs, John Stoll agreed but highlighted a range
of opportunities for New Zealand’s tourism industry to
benefit from the growing cruise market.

“Our customers
are your customers and when the cruise lines deliver guests
to New Zealand ports, it is imperative that we all focus on
maximising each opportunity,” Mr Stoll said, noting that
Crystal guests are always interested in exclusive and
intimate experiences that they can’t find anywhere
else.

Innovative activities and products gave both ships
and passengers reason to return.

Crystal Cruises offers
its customers the option of tours before and after their
cruise, which provides opportunities for tourism operators
beyond the ports of call. The company also regularly
schedules special shore side events at special venues during
World Cruises. Since 2003, Crystal has featured four World
Cruise events in New Zealand – in Matamata, Rotorua,
Wellington and Napier. An exclusive once-in-a-lifetime event
at the Hobbiton Movie Site in Matamata will be featured
during Crystal’s 2015 World Cruise overnight stay in
Tauranga to celebrate the line’s 25th Silver
Anniversary.

Both the cruise line’s reputation and the
appeal of the destination played a part in a passenger’s
decision to take a cruise so all parties needed to work
together to maximise the opportunities of this growing
sector, Mr Stoll said.

• Miami-based cruise line Royal
Caribbean Cruises currently operates two brands in New
Zealand. In the 2013-2014 cruise season, Royal Caribbean
International’s two ships conducted 13 voyages and 60 port
calls in New Zealand, while Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity
Solstice conducted 12 voyages and made 71 port calls. As a
group, Royal Caribbean Cruises is second largest in the
world, behind Carnival Group.

• Owned by NYK Line and
based in Los Angeles, Crystal Cruises caters to the luxury
end of the market. In the 2013-2014 cruise season, Crystal
Symphony conducted an exchange voyage (where the cruise
begins or ends in New Zealand) and visited 8 ports including
an overnight stay in
Auckland.

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